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As she stood
in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of
school, she
told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she
looked at
her students and said that she loved them all the same. However,
that
was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was
a
little boy named Teddy Stoddard.
Mrs. Thompson had
watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did
not play well with
the other children, that his clothes were messy and
that he
constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It
got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight
in
marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X’s and
then putting a big
"F" at the top of his papers.

At
the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review
each child’s past records and she put Teddy’s off until last. However,
when
she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child
with a
ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good
manners… he is a joy to
be around."
His second
grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well
liked
by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal
illness and life at home must be a struggle."

His third grade
teacher wrote, "His mother’s death has been hard on
him. He
tries to do his best, but his father doesn’t show much interest,
and
his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren’t taken."

Teddy’s fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and
doesn’t
show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many
friends and he sometimes
sleeps in class."

By now, Mrs.
Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of
herself She
felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents,
wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy’s. His
present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got
from
a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of
the
other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found
a
rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle
that
was one-quarter full of perfume . But she stifled the
children’s laughter
when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet
was, putting it on, and dabbing some
of  the perfume on he r
wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day
just long enough to
say, "Mr! s. Thompson, today you smelled just like
my  Mom used
to."

After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On
that very
day, she quit teaching reading, writing and
arithmetic. Instead, she began
to teach children. Mrs. Thompson
paid particular attention to Teddy. As
she worked with him, his
mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged
him, the faster he
responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become
one of the
smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she
would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her
"teacher’s
pets."

A year later, she found a note under
her door, from Teddy, telling her
that she was the best teacher he ever
had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another
note from Teddy. He then wrote
that he had finished high school, third
in his class, and she was still
the best teacher he ever had in
life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying
that while things
had been tough at times, he’d stayed in school, had
stuck with it, and
would soon graduate from college with the
highest of honors. He assured Mrs.
Thompson that she was still the best
and favorite teacher he had ever
had in his whole
life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came.
This time he
explained that after he got his bachelor’s degree, he
decided to go a
little further. The letter explained that she was still
the best and
favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little
longer….
The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another
letter
that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was
going to be married. He
explained that his father had died a couple of
years ago and he was
wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at
the wedding in the
place that was usually reserved for the
mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs.
Thompson did. And guess what? She
wore that bracelet, the one with
several rhinestones missing.
Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the
perfume that Teddy
remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas
together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in
Mrs. Thompson’s
ear, "Thank you Mrs Thompson for believing in
me. Thank you so much for
making me feel important and showing
me that I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in
her eyes, whispered back. She said,
"Teddy, you have it all
wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could
make a
difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you."